The subject invention is directed to a catheter system and apparatus for opening a totally or partially occluded blood vessel.
In my prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,936,845, issued Jun. 26, 1990, for "Catheter System Having Distal Tip For opening Obstructions," and 5,116,350, issued May 26, 1992, under the same title, I have disclosed methods and apparatus for opening an occluded blood vessel through the use of a catheter with a drive shaft having a distal tip portion that is impinged against the occlusion with an axial or rotary reciprocatory motion. The patents disclose two separate devices, one capable of producing an axially reciprocated movement and the other capable of producing a rotary reciprocal movement.
There are numerous other arthrectomy devices for opening vascular obstructions such as the Kinsey catheter disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,376. These other prior devices that use rotary rotation all have the common problem of "wrapping" or "twisting" tissue because of the unidirectional rotation. The reciprocal rotation of my device prevents this from happening.
In my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,325, issued Aug. 8, 1989, for "Reciprocating Guidewire Method," I have disclosed the use of a conventional guidewire for use in forming a passageway through a vascular obstruction. This system utilizes a conventional guidewire and catheter which is already in the patient's vascular system, such as in a coronary artery. This patent discloses a system for reciprocating the guidewire back and forth.
It now appears that it would be most desirable if the drive shaft tip or the guidewire tip were subjected to both forms of reciprocation (i.e., axial and rotary) simultaneously. The combined motions seem to produce more efficient and effective opening of the occlusions than either motion performed by itself.